TRUTH BE TOLD

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Conspiracy Watch: Did Obama Give American Islands to Russia?

Conspiracy Watch: Did Obama Give American Islands to Russia?

One
of the big takeaways from the first three-and-a-half years of the Obama
administration is that some people are crazy. I don't mean to suggest
that this is an entirely new phenomenon—in the 1990s, a sitting member
of Congress tried to prove that President Clinton murdered Vince Foster
by blowing up a pumpkin—but
it certainly seems to have picked up steam. As proof, I present the
latest conspiracy theory from the fever swamps: President Obama secretly
gave away seven American Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea islands to Russia.
Russia! He transmitted them to Vladimir!
The theory is being promoted by Texas House candidate Wes Riddle, who argued, in a Facebook note last week, that Obama's supposed Russian giveaway was grounds for impeachment:

The reasoning for President Obama’s impeachment begins with the fact
that the State Department is giving away seven strategic,
resource-laden Alaskan islands to Russia. These seven islands in the
Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea include one the size of Rhode Island and
Delaware combined. The Russians will also receive tens of thousands of
square miles of oil-rich seabeds surrounding the islands. The
Department of Interior estimates billions of barrels of oil are at
stake.
The State Department has undertaken the giveaway in the guise of a
maritime boundary agreement between Alaska and Siberia. Our own federal
government drew the line to put these seven Alaskan islands on the
Russian side. But as an executive agreement, it could be reversed with
the stroke of a pen by President Obama or Secretary Clinton. The
agreement was negotiated in total secrecy, not allowing the state of
Alaska to participate in the negotiations, and was the public was not
given any opportunity to comment. All resolutions of opposition passed
by the Alaska have been disregarded by the State Department.

Treason! But wait, maybe there's more to this story. Factcheck.orglooked into this
claim back in March and concluded that the the islands had actually
been forked over by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, when he signed a
treaty with Russia permanently establishing the maritime boundary. All
of the islands are squarely on the other side, and most of them are
pretty close to the mainland; it'd be like Spain claiming Nantucket.
Also: Both of Alaska's senators voted for the treaty. (The call was
coming from inside Alaska!) In other words, case closed.
Anyway, Riddle is hardly the first conservative activist to condemn the island giveaway. Noted conspiracy theorist Jim Hoft of Gateway Punditsounded the alarm
back in February. And he, in turn, was only repeating an argument he'd
read somewhere else. As Hoft wrote, in a moment of flickering genius
that will live long in the history of the English language: "Former
senatorial candidate Joe Miller broke this story at World Net Daily."